Carl Elener began with a presenting difficulty. The problem was unemployment – He knew that no ordinary method would deal with the problem there was a need for something so creative so different to anything anyone had ever thought of before that would turn the situation around.
So he invented the Swiss Army knife.
Today, this family business in Schwyz provides 950 jobs.
The VICTORINOX "Swiss Army Knife" is over100 Years Old. This useful pocket MultiTool was legally registered on June 12, 1897. Over 34,000 of these pocket tools with the distinctive Swiss cross leave the factory in central Switzerland each day.Carl Elsener, the company founder, wanted to create work in sparsely industrialized central Switzerland and counter the emigration spawned by unemployment. To go from hand-crafting to industrial production was at the time adventurous and required enormous determination. Today, this family business in Schwyz provides 950 jobs.
This though, is no mere story of innovation:-
HEB 11:5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
HEB 11:7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
HEB 11:8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Victorinox employees have no cross to bear
Victorinox employees ares still worjing despite the fall in sales (Victorinox.ch)
Related story
· The Swiss Army knife is still a cut above the rest
The cross on Victorinox’s Swiss army knives is not only a company trademark but also a symbol of the Christian corporate culture that characterises the firm.
While many companies are quick to lay off employees when times are tough, sackings are taboo at the 120-year-old Victorinox.
The family-run firm say this policy is down to its Christian traditions.
“Our firm feels obliged to adhere to Christian principles in the day-to-day running of our business,” Carl Elsener IV, who runs the company together with his 81-year-old father, told swissinfo.
Some 950 employees work at Victorinox’s factory in Ibach in canton Schwyz – the area’s largest employer - producing about 100,000 knives each day.
On the companies building in 1943 were placed the following words:-
Dominus provide bit – the Lord will provide.
Here is an example of Christian innovation meeting a social and community need.
God is an innovator the book of Genesis is all about new innovations new creations by God and the most amazing developments you can ever think of.
Throughout the bible from situation to situation God is innovating.
We can’t possibly list them today in one short sermon but think of The sinfulness of all humanity and the innovation of the Ark to deal with a presenting problem.
Think of Abraham snug as a bug in Ur of the Chaldeans when suddenly God comes up with the innovation of a new nation set apart from him and the journey that took Abraham on.
Then there is Moses and Samson and Gideon and hundreds of others coming up with strange and different innovations through the generations.
Jesus himself coming on earth was a bold and different move by God to deal with the state of sin the earth was in at that time.
Who thought of the Cross?
Whilst it may have been a work of darkness and the devil in it’s application – In Isaiah chapter 53 we read:-
ISA 53:4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
ISA 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
You see the cross in the end is an amazing innovation by God who suffered so that we might live.
When Christ ascends to heaven and the Christians are left to move forward without the earthly Jesus they are left with the Holy spirit and the Holy spirit is an innovator.
You see the Holy spirit was there at the beginning of creation – in genesis we read –
Genesis chapter 1. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
The result of the Holy spirit moving or hovering over the waters was an amazing act of creativity and innovation that it is immposible for any person to understand in it’s fullness.
1: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2: And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
GE 1:3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day.
Just as the Holy Spirit was innovating in Genesis so He was in the New Testament.
Why do I want to bring all of this up?
Because I want to encourage you that God is an innovator and a creator it is on his mind to be creative.
That takes on profound effect when we realize that God made us in His image – and then we read God saying in ISA 43:19 See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland.
God is in the business of doing something new and creative.
Don’t you think then, as believers we should be seeking god about the new and creative thing that he might want to be doing in our lives?
By saying this I am not suggesting change for changes sake in fact god is constant –
In Hebrews chapter 134 verse 8 we read -
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
And in proverbs we read:- PR 22:28 Do not move an ancient boundary stone
set up by your forefathers.
Now in our society people try and move boundary pegs.
Some do not want this to be a Christian nation – others want gay relationships recognized as normal and so on.
That is not innovation that is sin.
Also I think in the church we need to be careful. It is great to have new innovations but not at the cost of our elderly or even middle aged people.
Yet we have to move forward into the thing that god is trying to do.
This morning I want to encourage you three things that I think are encouraged by scripture – that you can do to be creative and to be encouraged about what God wants for your life.
The first thing is to get God’s dream.
Right through the bible everyone who is highly innovative for god take time to make sure that they have God’s dream for their lives.
Gideon – is in a winepress and an angel appears to him and gives him god’s dream.
Moses is up in the hills shepherding – and God appears to him in a burning bush – Moses is eighty years old and yet god gives him a radical and challenging dream that will require all the creativity all the endurance and all the faith that he has.
The apostle Paul used to be called saul and he was practicing a form of religious persecution trying to cleanse the Christians out of Judaism in a brutal and rough way.
Saul would have thought that he was fulfilling god’s dream certainly he had the approval of all the religious leaders of his day.
But while he was in the midst of his mission God interrupted in a radical and life changing way.
AC 9:1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"
AC 9:5 "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked.
"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. 6 "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."
AC 9:7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
Out of this incredible experience Saul saw God’s way ahead – it took temporary blindness to give him vision.
How do we get God’s dream?
I believe many if not most of us already have it.
Look what is briooding in your heart – what is it that god has given you a passion for. So many people think that the passion they have is what everyone feels but it may not be. – God will plant in your heart specific dreams that are really his dreams and if you allow them to be in your heart you will be amazed at what will happen.
Margaret Currie is such a person – at about 60 years of age God planted in margarets heart a desire and a passion to work among the prisoners in Mongolia.
Margaret probably never dreamed that god would use her in the way that He has. But she has over the years seen many amazing miracles and conversions because she dared to get God’s dream and live it.
Has she had set backs in fulfilling god’s dream for her life?
You bet but she has a dream and sets out to fulfill that dream.
As a parish we have a dream – We call it our vision.
Our vision is to be a caring church family who will do whatever we can to help people become wholehearted followers of Jesus Christ.
But each one of us needs our own personal dream in order to fulfill that and out of that dream will grow the possibilities that will lead to innovation.
The second thing to become a Christian innovator is Faith.
Without faith we will chieve very little.
HEB 11:5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
HEB 11:7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
HEB 11:8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
When Carl Elsener decided to build his pocketknife factory he had to practise faith.
When Abraham left Ur he practiced faith and Jesus had enormous faith to come to earth and die on a bloodstained cross for the sins of the world.
Here is an incredible story of faith that I read recently:-
It is written by tony campoloFaith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Our hopes and our dreams for the future help lift our humanity to the fullness of what it can be.
Faith is acting on God’s vision
(From Paul Fritz sermon central.)
Faith honors God and God honors faith! A story from the life of missionaries Robert and Mary Moffat illustrates this truth. For 10 years this couple labored faithfully in Bechuanaland (now called Botswana) without one ray of encouragement to brighten their way. They could not report a single convert. Finally the directors of their mission board began to question the wisdom of continuing the work. The thought of leaving their post, however, brought great grief to this devoted couple, for they felt sure that God was in their labors, and that they would see people turn to Christ in due season. They stayed; and for a year or two longer, darkness reigned. Then one day a friend in England sent word to the Moffats that she wanted to mail them a gift and asked what they would like. Trusting that in time the Lord would bless their work, Mrs. Moffat replied, "Send us a communion set; I am sure it will soon be needed." God honored that dear woman’s faith. The Holy Spirit moved upon the hearts of the villagers, and soon a little group of six converts was united to form the first Christian church in that land. The communion set from England was delayed in the mail; but on the very day before the first commemoration of the Lord’s super in Bechuanaland, the set arrived.
Unknown.
Where is our hope when evil seems to be winning? When God seems to be on the wrong team?
Scratched on the walls of one of the Nazi prison camps were the words, “I believe in the sun even when it does not shine. I believe in love even when it is not expressed. And I believe in God even when He is silent.”...
If you want to be a Christian innovator you will need faith.
Vision and Faith are necessary.
But I want to share one more ingredient it is action – not just immediate action but long term action like that applied by the Moffats in the previous illustration.
Think of Moses when the rebellion of the Israelites meant 40 years in the wilderness – Moses simply hung on.
You see Moses had a vision – It was the fulfilment, in part, of Abrahams vision really – Moses simply hung in there and kept on pressing on for God.
If you are folliowing God’s way you may be tempted to give in to throw in the towel.
Don’t do it!.
Press on.
We are all affected by the storms and struggles of life. The question to consider is how are you going to respond? Like a tennis ball or play dough? You see, when you put pressure on play dough, it leaves a lasting imprint. Everybody can tell that is has been tampered with because of the mark it left. However, when you put pressure on a tennis ball, although it initially caves into the stress, it doesn’t remain in that condition. It always bounces back to its original shape. How do you respond to the pressures and struggles of life?
Action is always best when you have the vision in front of you.
When Stephen was stoned to death it was God’s vision of heaven that sustained him.
An old man lived alone in Wellington. He wanted todig his potato garden, but it was backbreaking work, and his son, John, who used to help him, was in prison.
He had been wrongly imprisoned for a crime he hadn’t committed.
The old man mentioned it in a letter he sent to his son by saying, “I’m not sure exactly what to do. I’m just getting too old to be digging the garden . It looks like I won’t be able to plant that garden this year after all.”
A few days later, he received a short letter from his son, “Dad, For heaven’s sake, don’t dig up that garden that’s where I buried the bodies!”
At 4 a.m. the next morning, a crew of police officers, arrived to find the bodies. After digging for hours, they gave up and apologized to the old man and left.
That same day the old man received another letter from his son.
“Dear Dad, under these circumstances, that’s the best I can do, go ahead and plant your potatoes now.”
Sometimes we are like the stubborn earth that stands in the way of experiencing a completely transformed life in Jesus Christ. Instead of being willing to trust, to take direction, and to accept the rewards Christ offers. We remain a potential garden…a potential garden in need of resurrection…a potential garden that needs to find the way, the truth, and the life…a potential garden just waiting to accept the victory that’s found in Jesus Christ. (adapted from Sermon central.)
A few weeks ago I spoke of the life of William Carey – this week I would like to speak of him again as a man who committed himself to action.
. There were no missionary societies and there was no real missionary interest. When Carey propounded this subject for discussion at a ministers’ meeting, "Whether the command given to the apostles to teach all nations was not obligatory on all succeeding ministers to the end of the world, seeing that the accompanying promise was of equal extent," Dr. Ryland shouted, "Young man, sit down: when God pleases to covert the heathen, He will do it without your aid or mine." Andrew Fuller added his feelings as resembling the unbelieving captain of Israel, who said, "If the Lord should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be!"
But Carey persisted. he later said of his ministry, "I can plod!" And he was a man who "always resolutely determined never to give up on any point or particle of anything on which his mind was set until he had arrived at a clear knowledge of his subject."
Action is important and you may not be highly energetic – but. You can plod.
William Carey
1761-1834
English Baptist missionary to India. Born in England in 1761. Pastor before going to the mission field, he spent an active forty-one years serving the Lord in India, including translating the Scriptures.
"Shoemaker by trade, but scholar, linguist and missionary by God’s training," William Carey was one of God’s giants in the history of evangelism! One of his biographers, F. Dealville Walker, wrote of Carey: "He, with a few contemporaries, was almost singlehanded in conquering the prevailing indifference and hostility to missionary effort; Carey developed a plan for missions, and printed his amazing Enquiry; he influenced timid and hesitating men to take steps to the evangelizing of the world." Another wrote of him, "Taking his life as a whole, it is not too much to say that he was the greatest and most versatile Christian missionary sent out in modern times."Carey was born in a small thatched cottage in Paulerspury, a typical Northamptonshire village in England, August 17, 1761, of a weaver’s family. When about eighteen he left the Church of England to "follow Christ" and to "...go forth unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach." At first he joined the Congregational church at Hackleton where he was an apprentice shoemaker. It was there he married in 1781. And it was in Hackleton he began making five-mile walks to Olney in his quest for more spiritual truth. Olney was a stronghold of the Particular Baptists, the group that Carey cast his lot with after his baptism, October 5, 1783. Two years later he moved to Moulton to become a schoolmaster — and a year later he became pastor of the small Baptist congregation there.It was in Moulton that Carey heard the missionary call. In his own words he cried, "My attention to missions was first awakened after I was at Moulton, by reading the Last Voyage of Captain Cook." To many, Cook’s Journal was a thrilling story of adventure, but to Carey it was a revelation of human need! He then began to read every book that had any bearing on the subject. (This, along with his language study — for at twenty-one years of age Carey had mastered Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Italian, and was turning to Dutch and French. One well called his shoemaker’s cottage "Carey’s College," for as he cobbled shoes along with his preaching he never sat at his bench without some kind of a book before him.)The more he read and studied, the more convinced he was "the peoples of the world need Christ." He read, he made notes, he made a great leather globe of the world and, one day, in the quietness of his cobbler’s shop — not in some enthusiastic missionary conference — Carey heard the call: "If it be the duty of all men to believe the Gospel ... then it be the duty of those who are entrusted with the Gospel to endeavor to make it known among all nations." And Carey sobbed out, "Here am I; send me!"To surrender was one thing — to get to the field was quite another problem. There were no missionary societies and there was no real missionary interest. When Carey propounded this subject for discussion at a ministers’ meeting, "Whether the command given to the apostles to teach all nations was not obligatory on all succeeding ministers to the end of the world, seeing that the accompanying promise was of equal extent," Dr. Ryland shouted, "Young man, sit down: when God pleases to covert the heathen, He will do it without your aid or mine." Andrew Fuller added his feelings as resembling the unbelieving captain of Israel, who said, "If the Lord should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be!"But Carey persisted. he later said of his ministry, "I can plod!" And he was a man who "always resolutely determined never to give up on any point or particle of anything on which his mind was set until he had arrived at a clear knowledge of his subject."Thus Carey wrote his famed Enquiry Into the Obligations of the Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathen. In this masterpiece on missions Carey answered arguments, surveyed the history of missions from apostolic times, surveyed the entire known world as to countries, size, population and religions, and dealt with the practical application of how to reach the world for Christ!And he prayed. And he pled. And he plodded. And he persisted. And he preached — especially his epoch-producing message, "EXPECT GREAT THINGS FROM GOD. ATTEMPT GREAT THINGS FOR GOD." The result of that message preached at Nottingham, May 30, 1792 — and all the other missionary ministries of Carey — produced the particular Baptist Missionary Society, formed that Fall at Kettering on October 2, 1792. A subscription was started and, ironically, Carey could not contribute any money toward it except the pledge of the profit from his book, The Enquiry.It was in 1793 that Carey went to India. At first his wife was reluctant to go — so Carey set off to go nevertheless, but after two returns from the docks to persuade her again, Dorothy and his children accompanied him. They arrived with a Dr. Thomas at the mouth of the Hooghly in India in November, 1793. There were years of discouragement (no Indian convert for seven years), debt, disease, deterioration of his wife’s mind, death, but by the grace of God — and by the power of the Word — Carey continued and conquered for Christ!When he died at 73 (1834), he had seen the Scriptures translated and printed into forty languages, he had been a college professor, and had founded a college at Serampore. He had seen India open its doors to missionaries, he had seen the edict passed prohibiting sati (burning widows on the funeral pyres of their dead husbands), and he had seen converts for Christ.On his deathbed Carey called out to a missionary friend, "Dr. Duff! You have been speaking about Dr. Carey; when I am gone, say nothing about Dr. Carey — speak about Dr. Carey’s God." That charge was symbolic of Carey, considered by many to be a "unique figure, towering above both contemporaries and successors" in the ministry of missions.
* "We’ve never done it that way before" [Answer: Why not? or "There’s a first time for everything"]
* "We tried that once and it failed" [Answer: Then let’s figure out why it failed and try again]
* "It can’t be done" [Answer: It can be done.]
